iPhoto for iOS Not Using Google Maps

[MacRumors]

It appears that Apple chose not to use Google Maps in iPhoto for iOS, as noticed by 512 Pixels.

Apple has purchased two companies with mapping technology, Placebase and C3, in the past few years. However, it's not at all clear where Apple got the map tiles, whether this is an internal technology or if they were licensed from some other source.

Apple does use Google Maps in the Mac version of iPhoto.

Article Link: iPhoto for iOS Not Using Google Maps

 

[Superken7]

Wow, the "satellite" image looks like a map drawing from the 1800s. I don't like it at all. They acquired huge good-looking map companies, and they bring us this? Um.. well..

 

[Flitzy]

Good - hopefully they update the maps tool to get rid of Google, as well. The sooner iOS distances themselves from Google, the better.

And I like the style of the map - very classy and elegant. Then again, I tend to prefer the antique look.

There's a possibility that there are different themes, too.

 

[burne]

It appears that Apple chose not to use Google Maps [..]

Hurray for Apple. I de-Google'd a few months ago, getting fed up with the scary amount of data Google collects about what I do. Time for the next step: giving us choice in which mapping provider to use for things like iOS Maps. Google can still map me based on the UDID all my requests carry in them. They can probably even track me as a unique entity because my iPhone and iPad use the same IP I until recently used to log in to Google's services at home.

 

[vixducis]

They're probably hard working on their navigation app for iOS 6 by now...

 

[Ridge Racer]

Out of date maps

Whatever maps they are using, they are VERY out-of-date.

The whole housing development I live on (consisting of 15+ roads, and a few hundred homes), is completely MISSING from these iPhoto maps, despite having been in existence for at least 15 years.

My street and all the surrounding ones appear on every other mapping system I've ever used.

Not impressed.

 

[vebs]

Didn't Google start charging for heavy usage of its maps service? Since users are not likely to be using maps in iPhoto for any kind of serious navigation or detail, this is probably going to save Apple a fair amount of money?

 

[sevoneone]

Wow, the "satellite" image looks like a map drawing from the 1800s. I don't like it at all. They acquired huge good-looking map companies, and they bring us this? Um.. well..

I think that is the Map view, not a satellite view, it doesn't appear to have an option for satellite images.

My bet is that the Map tiles for iPhoto are pre-loaded in the app so that loading the map just to see where your image was taken will not require a data connection. Loading a bunch of map tiles every time you bring up the feature seems like a pretty quick way to burn through your LTE allotment.

 

[rorschach]

Wow, the "satellite" image looks like a map drawing from the 1800s. I don't like it at all. They acquired huge good-looking map companies, and they bring us this? Um.. well..

You can't zoom in that far and the maps are blurry to boot.

Well, I don't think they'd replace the Maps app with this until/unless the quality was equal or better to what it is now.

 

[rmwebs]

IMO this isn't a good move. I mean, sure Apple dislike Google, we all get that. But currently nobody offers maps anywhere near as good. What baffles me is why they didn't go with the next best thing, Bing maps.

This just seems like Apple being a bit stubborn. This is where the rivalry thing stops becoming something we all look at and go 'Meh' and starts actually affecting how we use our iOS devices.

 

[afin]

Maybe it's a placeholder until iOS 6? Eh. Something is strange about this.

 

[andy007]

But currently nobody offers maps anywhere near as good.

The street map data in Google was historically licensed from Tele Atlas/TomTom and I think for some countries also Navteq/Nokia. Only recently has Google switched to their own mapping data - at least for the UK.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Ok, I'm going to say it. These maps suck.

They are low quality, washed out images with visual artefacts. The text font is like something out of a home-made school flyer. Even the scrolling doesn't feel right. It lacks finesse - it is distinctly un-Apple.

Bring back Google please!

 

[rmwebs]

The street map data in Google was historically licensed from Tele Atlas/TomTom and I think for some countries also Navteq/Nokia. Only recently has Google switched to their own mapping data - at least for the UK.

The global data was from all sorts of places. But nobody else was getting that info into a usable format, and clearly Apple haven't been able to as evidence by iPhoto.

If it aint broken, dont fix it applies here...

Even the OpenMapProject would have been a better choice :/

 

[Erwin-Br]

The street map data in Google was historically licensed from Tele Atlas/TomTom and I think for some countries also Navteq/Nokia. Only recently has Google switched to their own mapping data - at least for the UK.

Yeah, Google switched for most of Europe actually.

TomTom bought TeleAtlas years ago, by the way, so it's one company now.

 

[burne]

But currently nobody offers maps anywhere near as good. What baffles me is why they didn't go with the next best thing, Bing maps.

www.openstreetmap.org

Dunno about America (downtown New York looks good, but Lewistown, MN sucks)

Bing is so bad it sends pedestrians onto a highway, which will land you in jail, in this part of the world. www.openstreetmap.org will keep pedestrians and cyclists on their respective routes, even in national parks. Whether you are in UK or NL.

 

[dethmaShine]

Oh dear Apple.

EDIT: Just went and looked at some zoomed images. This is atrocious. I thought, it was all about providing great user experience. 'Why do you have to be rude because of the competition'. This blows.

It's like Apple saying: 'Go suck it. This is all we have right now'.

 

[scottsjack]

Wow, the "satellite" image looks like a map drawing from the 1800s. I don't like it at all. They acquired huge good-looking map companies, and they bring us this? Um.. well..

I love the olden-days wavy lines for the ocean. Aren't there supposed to be drawings of sea serpents, mermaids and ships sprinkled around out there?

 

[iSimx]

This is great. The roads where are I live are completely wrong on the map lol. Roads that don't even exist or are joined in weird places.

 

[burne]

This is great. The roads where are I live are completely wrong on the map lol. Roads that don't even exist or are joined in weird places.

The advantage: google doesn't infer in which local pub you were last friday. So your gmail stays free from advertising a different brand of beer.

 

[Fraaaa]

I think that some of you have misunderstood that this map is only used in iPhoto. The map is not meant for navigation but only for picture location in iPhoto.

 

[deannnnn]

I understand why Apple is mad at Google, but removing Google integration from their products only lowers their overall quality and usability. We live in a Google world whether Apple likes it or not. I really hope this is not a sign of things to come.

 

[gregorypierce]

I'll toss out the possibility that they figured that they could get this in "under the radar" as a test of their new capacity and infrastructure before rolling out a real service in iOS6.0.

 

[codyc815]

It lists my college as Arlington State College. It changed from that in 1965 and is now UT Arlington.

 

[rmwebs]

The advantage: google doesn't infer in which local pub you were last friday. So your gmail stays free from advertising a different brand of beer.

Who gives a crap if they do? What possible problem does that present to your life?

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I'll toss out the possibility that they figured that they could get this in "under the radar" as a test of their new capacity and infrastructure before rolling out a real service in iOS6.0.

If thats the kind of thing we've got coming in iOS6 then I see a lot of us sticking with iOS5.